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Banksy Announces Artist's Residency on the Streets of New York

Andrew LaSane is a freelance writer from South Carolina who currently resides in Brooklyn. He spends most of his life connected to the grid, obsessing over and customizing sneakers, and trying to relive the '90s.

Last week, Banksyhinted at an upcoming show with a post on his website that contained four words and a photo of a new mural. It turns out the "BETTER OUT THAN IN" show is actually an artists residency that will take place exclusively on the streets of New York City and shared on Instagram via @banksny.

Banksy's normal website now opens to a special BanksyNY site announcing the residency. After a few splash pages, the main site features the name of the project and a quote from Paul Cézanne that reads "all pictures painted inside, in the studio, will never be as good as those done outside." The residency will last the month of October and the first piece has already surfaced in Chinatown.

The single greatest thing about Banksy's new site is the introduction of his audio walking tour. There is a phone number and an embedded audio clip on the site that features a male voice (backed by elevator music) that gives a hilarious impersonation of a museum audio tour. The unidentified speaker in the parody pronounces Banksy's name incorrectly, recites nonsensical artsy dialogue, and openly mocks the museum/gallery culture. Head over to the site now and witness this epic event.

UPDATE October 2, 2013 8:06 a.m.: Less than 24 hours after the piece went up in Chinatown, someone stole the "Graffiti Is a Crime" sign along with one of the boy's hands and tagged "GMON" next to it. Some people just can't have nice things.

UPDATE October 2, 2013 3:02 p.m.: After a group known as "Street Crew" replaced the sign with a similar sign that read "Street Art Is a Crime," that too was stolen and the entire mural was buffed. Gothamist said that PHATLIPP tagged over the whitewashed piece with the message "sweaty palms made me lose the love of my life! :(," to which he responded on Instagram by posting a photo of the same tag that was taken 4 days ago, long before Banksy's mural appeared. This is getting complicated. Welcome to the Big Apple, Banksy!

UPDATE October 3, 2013 4:30 p.m.: PHATLIPP's tag has also been whitewashed and covered with a stencil that reads "Banksy [greater than or equal to] Skrillex" with no identifying tags.